The original Brothers brewery was located at Auckland's
City Works Depot. When the main production brewery was established in larger premises in Mt Eden, the original premises near the Central Business District were retained as a retail store and bar / tasting lounge.
Uphill from Britomart Transport Centre and a short westwards walk from the Skytower, the bar can be found on the east side of the City Works Depot accessible from Wellesley Street W or steps down from Nelson Street. In the evening, the high tables outside are shaded by the height of the building as I discovered on my visit on Sunday 19 March, 2017.
Entering the spacious bar / store you will find shelves of beer and merchandise, a retro seating area, beer filled fridges and a bar with 18 taps.
A framed display screen above the bar gives details of the current beer range, including seven from
Brothers Beer on my visit.
Nick took my order for a flight of five beers and a pizza ($30 using a Brothers Beer voucher from an Auckland tourist booklet). I took the opportunity to hand him a copy of
Ullage, the
West Berkshire CAMRA quarterly beer magazine.
Nick explained that the Thunderbirds and other retro models decorating the bar / store are based on the founders' personal fondness for them. In combination with the retro furnishings the toys certainly add colour and style to the place.
At Brothers Beer the pizzas are served ready sliced. Plenty of paper napkins are provided but no cutlery. After a Sunday spent walking all around Auckland in the late Summer
sunshine it was a relief to find a shaded outside table to sit down at
for a meal and some refreshing New Zealand beers.
My chosen beer tasters were:
Good George Brewing Lime & Hibiscus Gose, Brothers Beer Hoppy Wheat Ale (my favourite), Special Agent Dale Cooper's Cherry Pie, Pale Ale and
North End Brewing Yellow Eye IPA. All of the beers were of a high standard and suited my palate.
There was some traffic noise but this was negated by a laid-back playlist on the sound system including: Guts - And the Living is Easy; Alt-J - Tessellate; Glass Animals - Black Mambo; James Blake - Life Round Here.
Before leaving I took a look at some of the international beers available from the fridges which included beers from
Siren Craft Brewery (Berkshire, UK),
The Bruery (California, USA).
I asked Nick about the brewing vessels remaining in the premises and he explained that although they were currently gathering dust he had hopes that they will be used in future for specialist brewing onsite.
By the time I left the City Works Depot, the sun was setting and and the temperature was dropping.
The
Brewers Co-operative is a short walk south from here and this would be my next stop.
Brothers Beer, Shed 3, City Works Depot,
90 Wellesley St W, Auckland, NZ
Brothers Beer -
https://brothersbeer.co.nz/
Twitter -
https://twitter.com/brothersbeernz
